elopement tips and advice

Moana Events is one of Hawaii’s finest boutique event planning companies and definite favorites of mine. Meaghan (who you’ve seen model in this shoot) is an amazing member of the Moana Events team and is not only planning her own fabulous wedding, but also the weddings of other brides-to-be.

Moana Events recently launched a new boutique planning service: Modern Elopement – created for brides who want to have an intimate wedding without sacrificing any style, glamour, or elegance and Meaghan is here to share her valuable insights on elopements and intimate weddings!

From Meaghan of Moana Events and Modern Elopement – “I am a wedding planner who is currently planning my own wedding. And as a wedding planner, I have seen the incredible possibilities that a large, traditional wedding can hold. From stunning floral arrangements under impeccably draped tents, to 5-star dining and signature cocktails. It is truly magical what is possible in this industry today.

Nothing gives me greater joy in my job than bringing a couple’s vision to fruition, and then seeing the look on their faces when they walk into their dream wedding to celebrate their special day!

However, as a soon-to-be-bride, I have a completely different perspective. ‘Big’ is just not ‘me.’ While I live vicariously through the large and elaborate dreams of our clients, personally, I am a fairly simple gal, myself.

The amount of time, money, stress, and (structured) chaos that goes into planning ones nuptials is enough to make any bride and groom want to pack their suitcases and run away from it all. It is a route that both my fiancé and I have given serious thought to. And if we didn’t have so many friends and family members who would hunt us down, I can promise you we would have been on the first flight out of our large and increasingly expensive wedding!

For many couples though, this is exactly what they are opting to do. Whether just the two of them, or a handful of their closest friends and family members, couples are catching on to the possibilities that an intimate wedding or elopement can have. It certainly does not have to spare the details of ones “dream wedding” or God forbid, mean you don’t get to wear your fantasy dress.

As we like to say at Moana Events, “A small guest list does not have to equate to a small vision in style and details.” An intimate wedding can still have all of the beautiful touches, while still leaving money in the budget for an amazing honeymoon!

So, we created and designed what we feel is the perfect wedding collection for couples that want a beautiful intimate elopement without the cost and stress of a big affair. We hope you love these as much as we do!”

Editor of Burnett's Boards, which she founded to showcase global creativity in the wedding industry. Sara currently lives out of a suitcase while island hopping the Caribbean and beyond. Learn More // Follow on Instagram.

Comments

this is amazing. my fiance and i were looking at a larger wedding here in oregon where we live but it all sounded so insane and stressful. i ended up ditching the idea in favor of returning home (to hawaii!) in march 2015 to get married in a 35-40 person wedding. i love the thought that it’ll be so small, so us, and so intimate. i adore this post and love those protea photos – they are going to be my wedding flowers as well, so this hits close to home!

Thank you so much Sara Lynn! We are so proud of these elopement collections and they truly are beautiful 🙂 Meaghan is getting married this Saturday, so we will be sure to put up some pics of her real wedding 🙂

What a great service! If I had it to do over, I would DEFINITELY elope in style. In my pre-wedding blogger days, I thought an elopement meant a drive-thru wedding in Las Vegas. How wrong I was! (That would still be fun though.)